Act before it is too late, Modi ji!

V Ramu Sarma's candid and forthright views about Centre and state government's inept handling of pandemic is absolutely right and down to earth a fact existing across the country, hence it cannot be brushed under the carpet at a time when pandemic wreaking havoc in our lives is inflicting great deal of sufferings to people.

With people struggling and perplexed over the government's indifference and callous attitude even after an alarm bell was sounded by public health experts alerting the government way back in December last year about the imminent second wave striking in March would be severe and more dangerous than the earlier one, it is sad Centre and states were deeply involved in poll victory than the welfare of people who were running from pillar to post to save their kin from the dreaded virus.

Instead of acting swiftly and providing succour to the patients struggling for life due to lack of facilities, parties shamelessly indulging in blame-game to defend the government only saw rise in death cases daily. Notwithstanding the fact that data suggests that certain nations have responded to this outbreak by adopting elimination strategy successfully while a few went for containment strategy to reduce number of people being hospitalised like in the US and UK., India not able to take preventive measures as outlined by health experts tells the sorry tale of the leaders who only try to boast of past achievements ignoring non-challantly the bleak present taking way hundreds of lives by the day.

Such miserable failure on the part of the government not coming to the rescue of people is pathetic. Further even when the first and foremost duty of the government was to check super spreaders and cautioning them for not strictly abiding Covid norms and similarly not able to identify patients requiring hospitalisation, oxygen, beds, drugs besides any other critical care facilities for controlling spread of mutant at a fast pace is the reason for more getting affected.

There is no denying the fact that the road to meet the unprecedented challenge squarely lay on the doors of government which should have risen to the occasion with out-of-the-box solutions keeping in view the health infrastructure has limited resources but sadly been indifferent and denial mode did not try to put the best foot forward to save patients dying due to lack of health facilities even as situation slipped from bad to worse.

As people would never forgive the government and political parties for the loss of many precious lives even as deaths keep piling daily, it is time government need to change its overall perception by implementing sustainable solutions to emerge out of the second wave while heeding to the warning of top health experts to smother the third wave by adopting aggressive containment strategy by stepping up testing and enhancing infrastructure by establishing more oxygen plants, ICU beds, ramp up vaccine manufacturing to limit morbidity and above all meaningful allocations to public health service to run the country's health system effectively.

All in all, in order to see a good and efficient health system, it is essential that such measures are put in place on top priority because this is not the last wave or pandemic the nation will face.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad